Story of a Girl
by Azurite
Summary: This is the story of a girl... who cried a river and drowned the whole world. And while she looks so sad in photographs, Ranma absolutely loves her when she smiles.


Story of a Girl  
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction  
By Azurite  
azurite_moon@yahoo.com  
http://www.geocities.com/azurite_moon  
  
Like, Ranma 1/2 is so not mine. Fer sure,  
the plot is! Whatever. ^.~ Oh yeah, like,   
the singers of "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)"  
are the cool guys from, like, Nine Days.   
--------------------------------------------  
This is the story of a girl   
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world   
And while she looked so sad in photographs   
I absolutely love her, when she smiles  
  
She only did it to guilt-trip him. He knew. She  
was a damned good actress, despite his only  
experience on stage with her was that blasted  
Romeo and Juliet trife.   
  
But every time she cried, he broke down like  
an old toy. Melted like a pile of putty. Now,  
he was no Casanova or anything; he wasn't as  
vulnerable to tears as Ryoga, but it did  
hurt to see her cry for any reason-- and moreso  
if it was his fault.   
  
But when she smiled...oh, she was *beyond* cute.  
Smiled at his own foolishness, but still... her  
smiles were so sincere, so rare... because they  
were directed at HIM!  
  
It wasn't as if he didn't notice that she rarely  
smiled. She always seemed angry, frustrated, or   
upset over something. So when she smiled...  
  
How many days in the year   
She woke up with hope, but she only found tears  
  
He never missed the tears in her eyes most mornings--  
he wanted to ask why she always seemed so tired and upset,  
but he could usually sum the reasons up in a word-- his own name.   
Ranma. He was at the cause of her heartache. So long they  
had danced this endless circle, and just... repeated it.   
  
And I can be so insincere  
  
What blasphemeous lies to say she was uncute! Okay, maybe they  
weren't lies, just... mis-truths. She wasn't cute. She was  
beautiful. Ranma wasn't lost on the fact that many men longed  
for her-- she had a beautiful body, a sweet face, and a  
fiery, come-and-get-me personality.   
  
Making the promises that were never for real  
  
Saying that one day, he'd dump her, just walk out and leave...  
forgetting all but his need to get cured. But it never happened.  
He was afraid to likewise, admit his feelings. Not out of  
fear of rejection, but of the fact that he would find himself  
in love with her, and be unable to do anything about it.   
Powerlessness was unacceptable to Ranma Saotome.   
  
As long as she stands there waiting   
Wearing the holes in soles of her shoes  
  
But she would keep on pounding him, jumping to conclusions, and  
then, in the end, staring at him with that hurt, sad smile,   
tears barely glistening on the fringe of her eyes. And he would  
hurt until he mumbled out some apology.   
  
How many days dissapear   
You look in the mirror so how do you choose   
  
With all the strangeness in their life each day, it was more  
than difficult to decide what to do next. Things happened, and  
though they each had some control over them, so the cycle  
of almost-love and hate would begin anew, they never bothered  
to stop it. Life just went on like that, with nothing to  
change its course.   
  
Your clothes never wear as well the next day   
And your hair never falls in quite the same way   
  
But the days would pass, seemingly getting longer. Her  
eyes always had a more haunted look to them, slight  
black-blue-red rings under that line of eyelashes,   
giving her the tired and surrendered look to her  
natural beauty. The dress seemed to get more wrinkled,  
her hair just a bit more out of place.   
  
One day, Ranma knew, Akane would be the one to tell *him*  
that it was over, that she was leaving. Not to find a cure, or  
to battle someone in a faroff land, but to have some semblance  
of a normal life. One that she deserved more than anything else--  
especially the foolish love he tried to provide.   
  
You never seem to run out of things to say  
  
Always, the battle continued between them, but there was never  
a true winner or loser. No matter who left crying or who was  
punted away into the sky, each person, like a puzzle, had a   
piece removed after each trivial fight.   
  
This is the story of a girl   
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world  
And while she looked so sad in photographs  
I absolutely love her, when she smiles  
  
In those photographs, there was always some hint of the sadness  
Akane thought she was so adept at concealing. Ranma couldn't  
look at pictures of her because of that-- he always felt   
guilty and upset at the both of them and their foolishness.   
  
But when she smiled...  
  
How many lovers would stay  
Just to put up with this $h!t  
day after day   
  
Maybe Ryoga was better off for her. Depsite his lies and duckings-around-the-truth about his curse, and his directionlessness,   
Ranma knew that the Lost Boy felt something true for Akane.   
He could provide for her the honesty, soul-earned courage,  
and protection that Ranma felt he lacked and couldn't give.   
He was the one who didn't deserve *her*...  
  
How do we wind up this way   
Watchin' the mouths for the words I would say   
  
Their trivial fights became ritual, and people would stare agast if  
an argument didn't break out. Ranma would try so hard, but it  
was always the straw that broke the camel's back-- the silliest   
things would frustrate him, and upset her, and the cycle would  
begin again.   
  
As long as we stand here waiting   
Wearing the clothes of the soles I would choose  
  
Waiting for that damned perfect moment that couldn't ever come  
on its own-- it had to be created. Someone had to get up,  
make the moment, savor the day, and sieze the second-- if just  
to get hurt in the end. By keeping words inside, they ended up  
hurting more.   
  
How do we get there today   
If we're walkin' too far from the price of the shoes  
  
He'd find that moment-- make it for himself and her, just them,  
before anyone had the chance to. Because she was his, and he  
was hers. That was just the way things had to be. Maybe one couldn't  
see it past all the silly fights, but the love was there.   
  
Your clothes never wear as well the next day   
And your hair never falls in quite the same way   
You never seem to run out of things to say  
  
His pigtail was always a bit looser, though the Dragon Whisker was no   
longer needed, and his clothes started to vary past Mandarin styled  
causuals and basic gis. His face didn't show the tiredness that  
Akane's so frequently did nowadays, but he no longer cared about his  
appearance, or his flaunting, glomping fiancees. He didn't need the   
attention, he needed the sincere affection of the woman he loved--  
Akane. But he had to earn it.   
  
This is the story of a girl   
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world   
And while she looked so sad in photographs   
I absolutely love her, when she smiles   
  
Those photos were just sad reminders of the days when he couldn't bring  
himself to tell her how he felt. That would all change. There would be  
new pictures, one with her *smiling* sincerely, at him, and at others,  
for once. That hidden pain and anger would be gone... starting today.   
  
Your clothes never wear as well the next day   
And your hair never falls out quite the same way   
You never seem to run out of things to say  
  
The day began as any other, and when Ranma approached her, Akane  
already felt the strain and tiredness coming on.   
"What, Ranma?" She asked, a haggard frown pasted on her face.  
He glanced down the hall either way, then straight at her. She  
blinked in tired confusion, and it seemed as though only a second  
passed-- his lips were on hers. Then, another second later,  
the warm, tingling, electric feeling was gone, and Ranma was   
walking down the hall, hands in his pockets. It was as if  
nothing had happened at all.   
  
Akane wanted to be mad, wanted to demand his reasons for... having...  
'He *kissed* me!'   
She couldn't. She blinked, and brought her trembling hands to her  
lips. They felt swollen and hot, and she wanted Ranma to kiss  
her again. That feeling, that idea, that very thought rose in  
her like a balloon, and for the first time in a while, Akane  
smiled. At no one and nothing in particular, but she smiled.   
It felt good.   
  
This is the story of a girl   
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world   
And while she looks so sad in photographs   
I absolutely love her   
  
Ranma wanted to whistle and kick his feet in the air. Even if  
she would hit him for it later on, that short, sweet kiss was all that  
Ranma had wanted from Akane for so long. He had seized the moment,  
and it was his to treasure forever. He couldn't help but smile  
and touch his own lips. Gods, it had felt good to kiss her.   
  
This is the story of a girl   
Whose pretty face she hid from the world   
And while she looked so sad and lonely there   
I absolutely love her   
  
So sad and lonely in pictures-- so angry and full of a hidden pain  
when he first met her, and so determined and beautifully strong   
to win... he loved her. Without question.  
  
This is the story of a girl   
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world   
And while she looked so sad in photographs   
I absolutely love her, when she smiles  
  
The last time he ever saw tears in her eyes was when he looked up  
at her from his kneeling position on the ground-- true, happy  
tears, glimmering in the faint light the diamond ring sparkled.   
She smiled after that, a brilliant, ecstatic smile. She jumped into   
his arms and kissed him of her own free will, sliding the ring   
onto her left hand's ring finger. They sat there in a giggling,  
laughing, smiling pile for minutes, finally and truly happy.   
  
Absolutely.   
  



End file.
